WDEL-FM/AM, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, was honored to be named Outstanding News Operation at the Chesapeake Associated Press Broadcasters Association awards in Ocean City, MD early this month.
In all, WDEL received ten first-place awards at the annual banquet. Other honors included:
- Outstanding Newscast
- Outstanding Website, for WDEL.com
- Outstanding Public Affairs, for WDEL’s Feed A Friend Food Drive, which raised more than $15,000 for four local soup kitchens and homeless shelters.
- Former assistant news director Amy Cherry was honored with three first place awards for her reporting, including the Best Reporter award.
- Rick Jensen won the Outstanding Talk Show first place award.
- – Sean Greene won the Outstanding Sports Feature first place award.
- – Chris Carl was named Best News Anchor.
Twenty-seven news organizations in Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C., submitted 357 entries in the contest, which featured news and sports stories from 2021.
WDEL competed in the Radio II/Non-Metro division, which includes stations in Dover, Salisbury, Annapolis, and Frederick, MD.
The WDEl awards provided a reminder that I did not get around to the ratings picture from the fall of last year.
Despite the tardy reporting, it is worth noting that Philadelphia stations are now part of the mix for the northern Delaware market. Philly stations account for a lot of listeners in northern Delaware, but not enough to top First State stations.
WDEL’s Forever Media sister station, WSTW, and its hit contemporary music format beat out other stations by a wide margin. in second place was WDAS, a Philadelphia iHeart urban adult contemporary station. Beasley Media’s Philadelphia-based WMMR and its rock and throwback all DJ format, finishing a solid third.
Beasley’s northern Delaware adult contemporary station, WBJR finished fifth, with Forever’s WXCY country station coming in seventh. The above-mentioned WDEL was No. 8. Although listed as an AM station, WDEL also has an FM frequency.
Radio ratings are issued monthly in the nation’s largest markets, including Philadelphia and twice a year elsewhere.
Click here for a site that lists the ratings in the 82nd largest radio market in the nation.
